A terribly misfortunate young girl, trying to avoid being whisked away by a demon, is confronted by the guardian of a mystical graveyard. Can the living love the formerly living? Can you call what he had a life?

"Honestly, Helena, how long are you going to sleep? You're
sixteen years old, you should know better."

"Sorry, Mom," said Helena, sitting up and swinging her feet over
the edge of her bed. Had she dreamed last night? Was there really a
room with a coffin in it?

Well, there was only one way to find out. Helena jumped up and
grabbed a box labeled 'clothes.' Ripping the top off, she ignored
her Mother's question.

That was how, at ten o'clock in the morning on a Friday, Helena
came to be running through the house dressed in a black Sunday dress
with brown leather shoes. She rushed past the kitchen, once again
ignoring her family. Helena was intent on receiving some answers.

When she reached the chapel, she carelessly threw open the doors. The
little room was still there. Helena stopped dead and listened. She
didn't hear anybody this time around. She stayed stock-still for a
second before continuing forwards, heading for the room.

Throwing open the door, Helena peered in, half expecting to see the
same figure as last night.

Instead, there it was. The same coffin she could have sworn she'd
seen the night before, draped in lace. A single candle rested atop
the coffin, and it was unlit and worn down from use.

Helena gasped. Could it be that she hadn't imagined everything? Who
had been in there? And why was he there? It didn't make
sense.

"Helena!" snapped Mrs. Bline angrily. "What on Earth are you
doing?" She stopped dead when she saw her daughter staring into the
tiny church room, white as a ghost. "Helena! I thought I told you
never to open that bloody door!"

"Wh-what is this?" asked Helena, not turning away from the
enormous coffin.

"It's the burial shrine of Elizabeth Van Horrensige," explained
Mrs. Bline. "She lived here once upon a time. That was before there
was a chapel here. One night, she inexplicably hung herself at the
age of twenty-six. In her suicide note, she told her family to build
a chapel and place her body in it. Originally, she was up on the
altar. Then, one of the later owners of the house moved the huge
coffin and built a room around it." Mrs. Bline paused to scowl at
her daughter. "You need to be more careful. What if there was
something dangerous in there?"

"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Helena, looking over at her
Mother. She could still see that same person from the night before,
mourning silently and disappearing without having uttered a single
word.

"It's not like you needed to know. Besides, your siblings would
have panicked," said Mrs. Bline.

Helena nodded and cast one more look into the room before closing the
door. Letting out a sigh, she headed back towards the door leading
out of the chapel. It must not have been anything after all.

As she walked down the hallway towards the kitchen, Helena couldn't
shake the feeling that she was being watched. She quickened her pace
and tried to shrug it off, but she couldn't.

Finally, Helena looked up. Just to her left was a large window. It
looked out onto the cemetery that was on the property. Helena stared
out into the gloomy place for a second. Suddenly she jolted.

Sitting just before a grave was the same man she'd seen the night
before! This time he wore a black silk shirt that was buttoned up in
the front with gold buttons and loose gray pants. She couldn't see
his eyes, but Helena was sure they were still the reddish-orange they
had been the night before.

Darting away from the window, Helena raced down the hall towards the
nearest door. Once she reached the black wood exit, she grabbed the
doorknob and tugged. It was heavy, but Helena managed to open it just
enough that she could slip through. Once outside, Helena turned so
that she was facing the graveyard and began to run towards where
she'd seen the person sitting.

When she arrived at her destination, Helena's heart sank. There was
no one there. However, she noticed something strange. Right where he
had been sitting, there was a sprig of fresh lilac. It was as though
he'd known she was coming, Helena mused.

She bent down and absently picked it up, cradling the lilac to her.
The delicate scent filled her nostrils, and despite her mental
turmoil, Helena smiled. What a nice gift to receive.

Breakfast that morning was very quiet. Helena had been sitting and
staring absently at the sprig of lilac all morning. Her younger
sister, Anna, was sitting at the table with her and wringing her
hands absently, asking if the hard boiled eggs had been prepared for
long enough.

"Mm," said Reuben, picking at his nails with a penknife and only
pretending to listen.

"I thought they were too runny!" whined Anna. Helena's right
eyelid twitched a bit in frustration. She absolutely couldn't focus
with her siblings causing such raucous chaos.

"Be quiet!" snapped their Father. "Honestly, you kids have no
DECENCY."

Helena scowled to herself and looked back down at the lilacs. She
couldn't bear to set them aside in a glass of water. They were
special, weren't they? After all, she hardly knew WHAT had given
them to her. Let alone the how or why that she'd been trying to
work out all morning.

"I'm going outside," Helena said suddenly. Maybe if she did,
he'd be waiting there for her.

"Okay," said Rueben, clearly thinking someone had asked his
opinion on something.

"Helena, do you think-," started Anna, but she was interrupted by
Helena literally running out of the room, towards the back door.

The minute Helena stepped into the sunlight, she felt better. Her
heart lifted in her chest. Smiling to herself, Helena walked over to
the goldfish pond near the kitchen window. It was a lovely little
pond, full of goldfish and tadpoles. They darted away as Helena drew
near, and hovered at the edges of her shadow, no more than flecks of
gold in the dark-green pond.

Sitting down on a nearby rock, Helena began to hum a cheerful tune
under her breath.

"Ah, you like fish?" came the sudden voice. Helena jumped five
feet in the air and landed on the rock. "I've been taking care of
them for a while now, but they haven't grown much have they? You'd
almost think they're starving."

Helena spun around, coming face to face with a strange woman. She was
wearing a golden overcoat and a late-Victorian hoop skirt.

"Oh, did I startle you? 'M sorry, dear," said the woman. She
had the palest skin Helena had ever seen.

"Erm… It's fine," said Helena. "Um, if you don't mind me
asking, who are you?"

"No trouble," said the woman cheerfully. "I am Callie Girding."

Helena nodded and muttered a 'pleased to meet you.'

"Do you live around here?" she asked curiously. The woman
chuckled heartily.

"Yes, you could say that," Callie said, tucking a strand of
gray-brown hair behind her ears. She looked about thirty or so, with
sparkling blue eyes and a pleasant smile.

"Ah, I see," said Helena, although she didn't really.

"How long have you lived here?" asked Callie.

"Three days or so," said Helena. She actually had to think about
her answer, because it seemed like ages ago that she'd first
discovered the coffin.

"Ah," Callie nodded. "Do you like living in the church? Always
seemed like such a nice place."

"It is," said Helena. "Very nice."

The two women sat in companionable silence, each watching the fish,
until Helena worked up the nerve to ask her original question.

"Um… Did you come here for something?" she asked timidly.

"Oh, I just wanted to meet the people who moved in," said Callie,
as though the fact that she might need a reason to visit were a
foreign concept to her.

"I see," said Helena quickly, hoping she hadn't offended
Callie. "Would you like to go inside?"

"Oh, no thank you," said Callie. "I much prefer to be outside
on a nice, sunny day like today."

Helena nodded, turning the lilac branch over in her hands.

"Oh!" said Callie, noticing what Helena was holding for the first
time. "How lovely! I simply adore lilac, don't you?"

"Yes," said Helena readily. "It smells so sweet!"

"I know!" agreed Callie. Suddenly, she seemed to remember
something.

"Oh, My!" she said, jumping up and gathering her skirts to her.
"I just remembered! Terry invited me to 'coffee' this
afternoon, so I better go and get ready. It's been nice talking to
you, Helena. I hope we bump into each other again soon! See you,
Dear!"

With that, Callie turned and ran towards the cemetery. Helena raised
an eyebrow, but simply turned back to watching the fish. What an
interesting neighbor.